1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording method and an apparatus therefor. More particularly, the present invention relates to an ink jet recording method wherein a reaction solution and an ink composition are deposited onto a recording medium to perform printing, and an apparatus therefor.
2. Background Art
Ink jet recording is a printing method wherein droplets of an ink composition are ejected and deposited onto recording media, such as paper, to conduct printing. According to this method, images having high resolution and high quality can be printed at a high speed by means of relatively inexpensive apparatuses. In general, the ink composition used in the ink jet recording comprises water as a main component and, added thereto, a colorant and a wetting agent, such as glycerin, for preventing clogging and other purposes.
On the other hand, an ink jet recording method using two liquids of an ink composition and a reaction solution containing an ingredient capable of thickening or agglomerating ingredients of the ink composition has recently been proposed.
For example, regarding the ink jet recording method, the application of a polyvalent metal salt solution onto a recording medium followed by the application of an ink composition containing a dye having at least one carboxyl group has been proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 202328/1993). The claimed advantage of this method is that the polyvalent metal ion combines with the dye to form an insoluble complex, the presence of which can offer images having waterfastness and high quality free from color bleeding.
Further, the use of a color ink comprising at least a surfactant for imparting a penetrating property or a solvent having a penetrating property and a salt in combination with a black ink capable of being thickened or agglomerated through the action of the salt has been proposed in the art (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 106735/1994). The claimed advantage of this method is that high-quality color images having high image density and free from color bleeding can be yielded. Specifically, an ink jet recording method has been proposed wherein two liquids, a first liquid containing a salt and a second liquid of an ink composition, are printed to realize good images.
Other ink jet recording methods, wherein two liquids are printed, have also been proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 240557/1991 and 240558/1991.
In the ink jet recording methods using two liquids, good printing can be realized by bringing a reaction solution into contact with an ink composition. Upon contact of the reaction solution with the ink composition, the reactant contained in the reaction solution is considered to break the state of dispersion of a colorant and other ingredients in the ink composition to agglomerate them, thereby realizing images having high color density and having no significant feathering and unevenness. Further, in color images, uneven color-to-color intermixing in the region of boundary between different colors, that is, color bleeding, can be effectively prevented.